President Barack Obama today called on Congress to end the partial shutdown of the Federal Aviation Administration by the end of the week.

“This is a lose lose lose situation that can easily be solved” through a “procedural agreement,” he said, telling reporters at the beginning of his Cabinet meeting Wednesday afternoon that he has spoken with congressional leaders to urge them to reach an agreement. He added that congressional inaction “put the livelihood of thousands at risk.”

Federal funding for 4,000 FAA employees and hundreds of airport construction projects ran out on July 23, and Congress failed to extend the agency's resources before leaving for its August recess, meaning the employees will remain unpaid until September.

Earlier Wednesday, Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood said "Congress turned a blind eye to these workers and their families," criticizing his former colleagues on Capitol Hill.

"End your vacation for a couple days, get off the beach, get out of your mobile homes or whatever you are traveling in, get back to Washington," he said. "Come back and pass a bill."

Without the authorization, the government is also passing up over $30 million in tax revenues per day, which is how the agency pays most of its bills.

While air traffic controllers and plane inspectors are paid out of a separate fund and unaffected, dozens of safety inspectors are required to work without pay. An additional 70,000 workers are affected by the construction delays according to the White House.

At dispute is whether Congress should maintain subsidized flights into rural airports — a pet project of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV). Additionally, Democrats accuse Republicans of trying to reign in new rules making it easier for airline employees to unionize.

Reid called on the House to join the Senate in passing a "clean" extension of funding for the FAA, noting it could happen quickly by unanimous consent agreement. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX) called for the same on the Senate floor Tuesday.

But Speaker of the House John Boehner called on the Senate to accept the House bill.

"I respect the fact that Senators have certain objections, but they have had two weeks to respond to the House bill and done nothing, leaving tens of thousands of workers in limbo," he said in a statement. "The House has done its job, and now it’s time for Senators to do theirs."

If the House and Senate can't agree to act by unanimous consent, then the agency will remain partially shut-down until at September, when members of Congress return from their August recess.